PhotosPHOTO EXCLUSIVE: A Two-Show Day at Broadway's Bring It On With High-Flyer Courtney CorbeilleCourtney Corbeille, a professional cheerleader currently making her Broadway debut in Bring It On: The Musical, takes Playbill.com readers behind the scenes into the high-energy acrobatic world of the musical.
By
Matthew Blank
September 25, 2012
Aside from playing the ensemble "Goth Girl," Corbeille is one of the squad's "fliers," who perform at and jump from the highest heights of the St. James Theatre.
"I have been a part of the journey since early 2010 when I auditioned at an open 'cattle call' with absolutely no real musical theater experience," says Corbeille. "It's hard to believe that two and a half years later, I am seeing our marquee in lights on the Great White Way. Transitioning from cheerleader to dancer/singer/actor/cheerleader has been a challenging, yet exciting experience for me and several of my fellow cast members... and the 32 of us making our Broadway debuts could not be happier!"
"We visited 13 cities on our national tour and are grateful to have a home at the beautiful St. James Theatre here in New York City. Here is a look into a day in the life at the high-flying musical comedy, Bring It On!"
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PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: A Two-Show Day at Broadway's Bring It On With High-Flyer Courtney Corbeille
PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: A Two-Show Day at Broadway's Bring It On With High-Flyer Courtney Corbeille
Courtney Corbeille, a pro cheerleader currently making her Broadway debut in Bring It On: The Musical, takes Playbill.com readers behind the scenes into the high-energy world of the musical. Aside from playing the ensemble "Goth Girl," Corbeille is one of the squad's "fliers," who perform at and jump from the highest heights of the St. James Theatre. Read the Playbill.com story.
54 PHOTOS
Brooklyn Freitag and Lauren Whitt pump up the tunes while putting on their make up before the show.
Courtney Corbeille
Pre-show snacks vary based on what's in the break room. Today features are brisket and donuts!
Courtney Corbeille
Antwan Bethea loves his cheer bear!
Courtney Corbeille
Maybe not the most well-balanced meal, but it gets the boys ensemble members through the two show day!
Courtney Corbeille
Bettis Richardson enjoys a burrito from his favorite deli before the first show.
Dominique Johnson and Michael Mindlin finish up some snacks before they get into mics and costumes.
Courtney Corbeille
Ensemble members pick up their mics and mic belts to place under their costumes.
Courtney Corbeille
Brandon Bolton, our hair supervisor, helps Haley Hannah braid her hair just five minutes before the top of the show!
Courtney Corbeille
There are literally hundreds of pieces of laundry that get washed after every performance!
Courtney Corbeille
One of our lovely wardrobe ladies repairs part of a Jackson cheerleading uniform during the first show of the day.
Courtney Corbeille
I pose with Robert Guy, our wardrobe supervisor, just before getting into my "Goth Girl" costume.
Courtney Corbeille
Calli Alden, Shonica Gooden, Haley Hannah, me, Lauren Whitt and Casey Jamerson are ready for cheer camp!
Courtney Corbeille
Andy Blankenbuehler, our director and choreographer, visits us backstage during intermission with his beautiful children Luca and Sofia. The kids love coming to see their dad's show!
Courtney Corbeille
Our amazing physical therapist Lisa even works on people during the show!
Courtney Corbeille
One of the boys is getting treatment with the help of a heating pad and a nerve stimulator.
Courtney Corbeille
Ariana Debose, Elle McLemore, Ryann Redmond, me and Janet Krupin pose in the girls' dressing room before the top of act two.
Courtney Corbeille
These candies are a popular pick-me-up during each show.
Courtney Corbeille
Dahlston Delgado's dressing area is definitely one of the best decorated areas in the theater!
Courtney Corbeille
Dance captain Rod Harrelson's station is voted most organized out of anyone's in the cast.
Courtney Corbeille
More of Dahlston's awesome wall art makes his dressing room a home away from home.
Courtney Corbeille
Our outstanding backstage crew guys watch the show on TV monitors and always respond quickly to any technical glitch.
Courtney Corbeille
Here is the coveted National Champion trophy backstage before Eva rips it out of my hands at the awards ceremony!
Courtney Corbeille
Bettis Richardson warms up in cheer call before the second show of the day.
Courtney Corbeille
There is not much ballet in the show, but Neil makes sure he hasn't lost his technical skills! He's still got it!
Courtney Corbeille
Neil Haskell and Rod Harrelson are flying high during our pre-show warm up.
Courtney Corbeille
David Ranck holds Lauren Whitt up with just one hand! In cheer lingo, we call this a "one-arm liberty."
Courtney Corbeille
Sheldon Tucker stretches with a smile.
Courtney Corbeille
Taylor Louderman is at the top of the pyramid during our pre-show warm up.
Courtney Corbeille
This is one of the more difficult pyramids in the show because of its height. The "trophy" is a college-level stunt that Bettis Richardson and Taylor Louderman perfect every night!
Courtney Corbeille
Kara von Aschwege and Spencer Howard greet our patrons with smiles (and sometimes cheers) and are the most spirited merchandise sellers!
Courtney Corbeille
My dressing area may not be the cleanest, but it has a lot of character! (Leslie is the name of my character at Jackson, so I try to get into character by having her name up in addition to my real name!)
Courtney Corbeille
This is what my hair looks like under my wig every night! I have about twelve pin curls that help my wigs to stay pinned on!
Courtney Corbeille
This is my lucky sports bra from my all-star cheer team, Spirit of Texas. I often wear this to cheer call before we put on our show costumes.
Courtney Corbeille
Haley Hannah and Calli Alden are ready early, so they sneak in a nap before the top of act one.
Courtney Corbeille
Some of our amazing dressers waiting outside of Ms. Louderman's dressing room!
Courtney Corbeille
Here are our "Congrats on Opening Night" letters from the other Broadway shows! What a great way to show support within the Broadway community.
Courtney Corbeille
Russ, our doorman, enjoys a lollipop while making sure we are kept safe backstage!
Courtney Corbeille
Jeff Sugg, our video designer, stops by to check out the show for the first time since opening night! We love when our creatives stop by to visit.
Courtney Corbeille
Gabrielle, my amazing wig lady, helps me get into character by putting me into one of my three wigs I wear throughout the show. This one is my "Goth Girl" wig and one of my favorites!
Courtney Corbeille
Have you ever seen this many cheer bows in one place? Maybe only at the cheerleading national championship!
Courtney Corbeille
Wigs, wigs, and more wigs line the walls of the hair room.
Courtney Corbeille
Stage managers Bonnie Panson and Ryan J. Bell get organized before calling places for the top of act one!
Courtney Corbeille
James is the best laundry man ever and takes care of all of our clothing needs with a smile!
Courtney Corbeille
David Ranck gets some assistance with his mic cord from the sound department just moments before heading to the stage.
Courtney Corbeille
Our dressers lay out all of our clothes so our quick changes go smoothly every night.
Courtney Corbeille
Our band poses for a pic before the evening show begins. They rock it out under the stage!
Courtney Corbeille
Kurt Crowley, our associate conductor, warming up before the first number.
Courtney Corbeille
Our conductor, Dave Pepin, is eager to lead the band!
Courtney Corbeille
Trey Files is ready to jam on the guitar.
Courtney Corbeille
Jason Gotay and me posing for a quick pic backstage during act two!
Courtney Corbeille
Janet Krupin poses with her cheer teddy bear and her cowgirl hat since she plays "Kylar from Tyler!"
Courtney Corbeille
Caught with their hands in the cookie jar! Taylor Louderman and Nikki Bohne enjoy a mid-show chocolate chip cookie snack!
Courtney Corbeille
Greg Haney and Ariana Debose are all smiles after their long two show day!
Courtney Corbeille
One of the sayings I live by...Keep Calm and Bring It On! Come down and cheer with us at the St. James Theatre!
The Broadway engagement is the culmination of the national tour of Bring It On, which launched last fall in Los Angeles. Tony-winning In the Heights choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler directs and choreographs the musical, which has musical supervision by Tony Award winner Alex Lacamoire.
Jeff Whitty, the Tony-winning book writer of Avenue Q, authored the original book for the musical, which is anchored in the world of competitive high school cheerleading.
Bring It On, which is set in rival Truman and Jackson high schools, has music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights), music by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning composer Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and lyrics by Kitt's High Fidelity collaborator Amanda Green. All three collaborated on the score for the tuner.
The musical received its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, in early 2011.
The cast includes Adrienne Warren as Danielle, Ryann Redmond as Bridget, Taylor Louderman as Campbell, Jason Gotay (Rent) as Randall, Elle McLemore as Eva, Ariana DeBose (Hairspray, "So You Think You Can Dance") as Nautica, Gregory Haney (Memphis) as La Cienega, Neil Haskell (West Side Story, 9 to 5, "So You Think You Can Dance") as Steven, Janet Krupin as Kylar, Kate Rockwell (Legally Blonde, "Grease! You're the One That We Want") as Skylar and Nick Womack as Twig.
The ensemble includes Calli Alden, Nikki Bohne, Dexter Carr, Shonica Gooden, Haley Hannah, Rod Harrelson, Casey Jamerson, Dominique Johnson, Michael Mindlin, Adrianna Parson and Bettis Richardson.
Competitive cheerleaders, who provide Bring It On with its energetic stunts, are Antwan Bethea, Danielle Carlacci, Michael Naone-Carter, Courtney Corbeille, Dahlston Delgado, Brooklyn Freitag, Melody Mills, David Ranck, Billie Sue Roe, Sheldon Tucker and Lauren Whitt.
Bring It On has scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Andrea Lauer, lighting design by Jason Lyons, sound design by Brian Ronan, video design by Jeff Sugg and hair design by Charles G. LaPointe.
The stage production is produced by Universal Pictures Stage Productions/Glenn Ross, Beacon Communications/Armyan Bernstein and Charlie Lyons, and Kristin Caskey and Mike Isaacson. Beacon and Universal also produced the "Bring It On" films.
Here's how producers bill the work: "In Bring It On: The Musical, the high-stakes world of competitive cheerleading is intertwined with cutthroat high school politics to tell the story of Campbell, the heir apparent to the head cheerleader at Truman High School. Campbell is at the top of the cheerleader pyramid and she has it all — a strong squad, a doting boyfriend and a straight path to the national championships. Her entire life has been dedicated to honing routines and staying within the strict rules and guidelines, but when a surprise letter arrives, Campbell's world is thrown upside down."
